I have some questions

Why are US taxpayers being put on the hook responsible for TRILLIONS of bailout dollars mostly going to large corporations, many of whom either a) pay little to no income taxes; and/or b) receive BILLIONS in subsidies?

For just one example, in 2015 the US oil industry alone received an estimated $4.6BB/year in taxpayer subsidies* while “earning” Billions in profits annually ($1.99TT—trillion!—since 1990 for Exxon, BPO, Shell and Chevron alone**). They did this while ransacking the earth causing untold climate damage (and related expenses to come for clean up and mitigation) even though their own research told them it would result precisely in the very climate disruptions and catastrophes we currently face? (And that’s just oil.) WAY too many large corporations are legally structured and subsidized to earn huge profits yet pay little to nothing in income taxes (Amazon, Netflix etc.) or even receive tax rebates! And now we are going to bail them out just so that this unfair foolishness can continue to destroy us?

WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR THIS?

I agree Covid is extremely serious and needs to be properly addressed—based on public health realities, science, and reason. And, should we not be extremely cautious about granting the existing power structures additional powers of surveillance and control, assets they are unlikely to willingly part with once the crisis passes? Our governments—especially in places like the US, Russia, China etc.—have shown consistent willingness to use crises to aggregate and abuse power (2001’s USA PATRIOT Act, anyone?) and act in corrupt ways, defying the true will of the people.

Covid-mania suddenly has us printing mad money to prop up the very people-damaging and planet-destroying lifestyle that is truly threatening us, way beyond even the scary damage that Covid is throwing at us—and that money is NOT being used to wisely transition us to a post-carbon fuel economy and society as we so urgently need to be doing. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize here.

WTF is wrong with us humans? We are living in madness. Most humans I have ever met are kind and decent people whose interests are not represented by these policies. We must change our ways, now and forever. We must wrest power and control from the Corporatocracy, and end the racist and patriarchical madness, and use our amazing ingenuity to design and implement new ways of producing and using all the “stuff” we need, with both eyes towards embodying sustainability, fairness, equality and respect for ALL, including the least among us, those on whose backs the current “prosperity” enjoyed by some of us is built. Women, indigenous communities, non-white people—all have and continue to bear the brunt so that relatively privileged people can externalize the impact of their (our) choices. This. Must. Stop.

I am not the wealthiest nor whitest person I know, yet any honest view has to count me, a college-educated, North American-born, white male-bodied, two-legged human, among those who primarily benefit from the current inequality. Let’s be clear: people like me (and most likely, you who read this also) must be willing to give up some privilege in order to rebalance the scales. Let’s begin with the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities, and let’s include people like me, and let’s do this. Enough is enough. We are dying, and we are killing ourselves, both people and planet. The damage is not in some speculative possible future, it is already happening. This game is over. We need a new way of being, one we can be proud to regale our grandchildren with stories of around the fire—on the diminishing chance we all survive to that day.

I don’t know how exactly to effect this. I don’t know how we all assemble and march on every state and national capital in this era of social distancing. I know that the corporate wing of the Democratic party is also, in too many ways, part of the system, part of the problem—but/and, I also know that one of the most critical levers we US citizens hold now is to VOTE to remove Trump and as many corrupt Republican (and Democratic) lawmakers as we can this November and replace them with more conscious, progressive, no-nonsense representatives of WE THE PEOPLE. Not they the corporations. Let us make the Founders proud.

There are more of us (people-respecting and planet-loving people) than there are of them (people who actively wish to damage, control or destroy others and our fragile precious planetary home). So, let’s get together, raise our voices, vote and DO THIS.

Come on people! This is simply madness, and we know this. We must stop, and change. Time to upgrade our human software, and rise to our potential. I love you. God bless us all.